


Emily’s Life

by velvetjinx



Category: Emily of New Moon - L. M. Montgomery
Genre: Babies, Christmas With Family, Domestic Bliss, F/M, Fluff, Minor Perry Miller/Ilse Burnley, Pregnancy, Romance, Sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:40:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21897583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velvetjinx/pseuds/velvetjinx
Summary: Emily and Teddy are married, and Emily has a dear hope for the spring.
Relationships: Teddy Kent/Emily Byrd Starr
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	Emily’s Life

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kallooh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kallooh/gifts).

> Thanks to velleities for the beta!!
> 
> I didn’t realize I needed this story until I wrote it.

The Disappointed House was disappointed no more. 

Emily and Teddy had made it their own as a worthy summer house, for all so much of the knickknacks and furniture that had belonged to Dean—but Emily tried not to think of that too often. It had been lovely of him to gift her and Teddy the house and its contents as a wedding gift, but there was a small part of Emily—which she normally tried to lock away—that wondered if Dean had done it on purpose. If he had perhaps known that he would be on Emily’s mind whenever she looked at the curios he had brought back from his travels. 

Which was not to say that Emily wasn’t happy, because she was. Almost blissfully, in fact, which scared her a little, knowing that the gods did not like to see mortals too happy. She had her husband, who continued to put something of Emily in every illustration of women that he painted; she had her home, both in Toronto and PEI; she had her dear hope for the spring. Emily had never thought of herself as particularly maternal, but the idea of a baby that belonged to both her and Teddy filled her with bubbly joy. 

Spring was a long way off still, though. It was nearly Christmas, and Emily and Teddy had been invited to spend it at New Moon. Aunt Laura—an older Aunt Laura, but still with eyes that beamed in a particularly Victorian fashion—had smiled and cried happy tears all through Emily and Teddy’s wedding, which was a relatively quiet affair. Certainly not as grand or as large as the-wedding-that-never-was between Teddy and Ilse, though not as small as Ilse and Perry’s very small wedding. Emily had teased that Teddy wanted it to be small in case she ran off with Old Kelly; Teddy had rolled his eyes and kissed her hand. His pride was still a little sore over the fact that Ilse had once left him at the altar. He had recovered enough now, however, that when Emily told him they were going to Montreal to visit her and Perry, he had agreed far more readily than Emily had expected. 

“I want to see Ilse and Perry and the children before I can’t leave Toronto for a while,” Emily told Aunt Elizabeth, who had been visiting, and was helping Emily pack. 

“I still can’t believe that you’re taking your husband to see his old fiancée,” Aunt Elizabeth said sternly. “Surely you’ll be worried.”

“Dearest Aunt Elizabeth,” Emily said patiently, “I shall not be anything close to worried. Ilse loves Perry far too much to have any feelings left for Teddy—if she ever had any for him in the first place, which I doubt—and Teddy never really loved her that way either. So you see, I have nothing to worry about.”

“Hmm,” was all Aunt Elizabeth would say, clearly nonplussed by the love lives and romantic doings of the young folk. 

But not even Aunt Elizabeth’s doubts could crush Emily’s excitement to see her dear friends again. She hadn’t seen them at all since their second son, Lucas, had been born, and that was nearly a full eight months previous. Lucas’s birth and infancy had ostensibly prevented Ilse and Perry from being at Emily and Teddy’s wedding, although Emily suspected that it had more to do with people’s wagging tongues than wrangling two boys under four. 

Ilse was surprisingly good at keeping order with her boys and Perry. She had confided to Emily that her childhood wild, tomboyish ways had helped her a great deal in dealing with her older boy, Jimmy. Cousin Jimmy had been so proud to know that Ilse and Perry had named their eldest son after him. He had gone around for a full day, muttering, “A baby! With my name!” to himself. 

***

The sleeper train to Montreal took all night. Despite leaving early in the evening, it was still late morning when they arrived. Perry collected them at the station, shaking Teddy’s hand firmly with a grin, and hugging Emily. He piled their luggage onto the rack, and Teddy got in the front beside Perry, while Emily clambered into the back. 

Perry and Teddy chatted away amiably about their recent doings on the drive. Emily listened with half an ear; the rest of her mind was taking in the sights of the city. She had visited many times before, but considered it very beautiful. Something about its beauty stirred her soul, in that way very beautiful things tended to do. 

On arrival at the house, Ilse was waiting at the door, Jimmy standing next to her with his thumb in his mouth and Lucas in her arms. The sight made Emily’s heart thud maternally. 

“Emily!” Ilse called, joy coloring her voice.

Emily waved as Teddy helped her out of the car. Once out, she ran to Ilse, wrapping her friend in a tight embrace. 

“Emily, you haven’t changed a bit,” Ilse said, scolding slightly. “I had already put on some weight by this stage with both Jimmy and Lucas, and I still don’t think I’ve lost it, though it’s been nearly nine months.”

“Nonsense, Ilse,” Emily retorted. “You’re as beautiful as ever, and I think you know it too.”

Ilse laughed, leading Emily and the children inside while the men dealt with the luggage. “You always could see through me. How was the train?”

“Fine. I slept, which is always a blessing on sleeper trains.”

“Very true.” Interrupted by the arrival of Teddy and Perry, Ilse smiled gently. “Hello, Teddy.”

“Ilse.” There was nothing but warmth in both his tone and look, and he kissed her on the cheek. “You’re looking wonderful, as always.”

“Thanks.” Ilse smirked. “It’s all this power behind the throne business. I rather enjoy being a politician’s wife.”

“You would,” Emily said with a laugh. 

“She does boss me a bit, so nothing’s changed,” Perry said comfortably, swinging Jimmy up into his arms. “Look at this strapping lad! Certainly more meat on his bones than I had at his age in Stovepipe Town. Remember your Aunt Emily, Jimmy? Well, this is her husband, your Uncle Teddy.”

Jimmy briefly removed his thumb from his mouth to give a shy wave. 

“He takes a little bit to warm up to people,” Perry said. “But no doubt he’ll be crawling all over you in no time. Good practice for you!”

Emily and Teddy exchanged soft smiles. “I need all the practice I can get, I think,” Teddy replied. “I’ve never really been around babies before.”

“I don’t think any of the four of us had,” Ilse said. “It was certainly a learning experience for Perry and I! Though dear old dad did help us out a lot with advice.”

“Well, I’ll need you to help as much as you can,” Emily said with a laugh. “Aunt Elizabeth and Aunt Laura haven’t had much experience with babies themselves, except perhaps my own mother, and we’ve no one else who could teach us. We’re a little bit on our own!”

“Any advice I can give you, let me know,” Ilse said comfortably, cuddling Lucas against her. “Though I really only know about bringing up boys. I’m quite glad we’ve no girls. A girl would flummox me, I think.”

“Has Jimmy got your temper?” Teddy asked Ilse, who laughed. 

“No, thank goodness. At least he’s shown no sign of it yet. He seems to be more even-tempered, like Perry.”

“He’s a happy little chap, generally,” Perry added. “A little harum scarum, but with parents like us, I’d have been surprised otherwise.”

Emily grinned. “Do you remember when Miss Brownell came to New Moon for an apology and you pretended you were going to come down to the kitchen with no pants on?”

Perry hooted. “I’d forgotten about that! She wasn’t too happy when your Cousin Jimmy interfered, that’s for sure.”

“Not even a bit,” Emily said with a laugh. “I was never happier than when she left and Mr Carpenter came to teach us.”

“Were his last words really about Italians?” Ilse asked. “I heard somewhere they were.”

“Italians? No,” Emily replied. “His very last words in this life were to me, and they were, ‘Beware of italics’.”

That caused much mirth around the four. “He knew you so well!” Perry said, laughing. “And have you been wary of them since?”

“I have! I barely use them at all. In fact,” Emily confessed, “I’m writing another book.”

Ilse beamed. “How wonderful! And is your husband fully supportive of you?”

Emily shot Teddy a sly look. “I believe so. Mostly because it gets me out from under his feet when he’s trying to paint.”

“I know it’s bad form to talk about your past romances in front of your husband, but I’m so glad you didn’t marry Dean Priest,” Ilse said. “He would never have let you write the way you do. He was so jealous of everything that took your attention from him!”

“Yes,” Emily responded. “I’m still in mourning for the book I burned because of him. But then, if I hadn’t burned it, I might never have written my first novel, and so as much good came out of it as evil.”

“True. And people love your books!”

“Well,” Emily replied with a smile, “some people do. People in Blair Water still think I based some of my characters on them. It’s frustrating, and I’m almost relieved to be living in Toronto while writing this one. There is much less chance of people thinking I put in the neighbors!”

Ilse laughed. “Yes, that’s a good thing about living in a city. Your neighbors are less interested in what you’re doing.”

The group chatted until supper time, while Jimmy played on the floor, or climbed all over his father, or snuggled into his mother’s side. 

Emily and Teddy had a lovely four days with their friends. The children even warmed up enough to them both that Jimmy wanted nothing more than to drag Uncle Teddy down onto the floor to play with his tin soldiers, and Lucas enjoyed sitting on Emily’s lap, occasionally chewing on her fingers. 

Christmas at New Moon was a wonderful and elaborate affair, as always. Aunts, uncles, and cousins all arrived on Christmas morning for the festivities. Cousin Andrew had remarried—a nice, rather uninteresting girl called Carla—and could not have been more pleased with himself. Aunt Ruth was still a little biting in her comments, but on the whole was considerably more mellow than she had been before Emily’s days at Shrewsbury High School. Or perhaps it was just that she and Emily understood each other a little better. Either way, there was a certain sort of truce between them. 

Emily and Teddy stayed at New Moon until just after the New Year, then headed home to Toronto. It was likely the last time Emily would leave Toronto for a while, but Aunts Elizabeth and Laura had promised to visit in the spring for a month. They, as well as Emily, were so busy knitting booties and stitching tiny garments that they barely had time for anything else. Towards the end of March, Emily took stock of what they had and commented that their baby would perhaps be the best dressed child in Canada. 

At the beginning of May, Aunt Elizabeth arrived, Aunt Laura in tow. They made themselves at home, bossing the young maid that Teddy had installed in the household to help Emily over the last few months, and making all Emily’s favorite delicacies. 

Early afternoon of May 18th, a white-faced Teddy rushed out for the doctor and midwife, while Aunt Elizabeth banged pots and pans around in the kitchen and Aunt Laura knelt beside her bed, praying. A few hours later, loud and lusty cries were heard throughout the big house. When the Aunts were allowed into the bedroom, they found their girl—a paler Emily than they had ever seen, but with eyes that were bright and full of happiness—with a small bundle in her arms. 

“We’re calling her Juliet Elizabeth Kent,” Emily told them, and Aunt Elizabeth’s smile wavered as she cleared her throat. 

“A lovely name,” Aunt Laura said, eyes brimming with happy tears as Aunt Elizabeth took the baby from Emily and held her close to her breast. 

“Well, I do hope you’ll bring her to visit often,” Aunt Elizabeth said brusquely. Emily hid a smile, knowing that Aunt Elizabeth’s brusqueness hid a depth of feeling. “I’d like her to know that New Moon is a home for her.”

“We will,” Emily promised. “She’ll love it as much as I do, I’m sure. We’re coming to the house in July anyway, until September, so we’ll be over at New Moon lots.”

“Will Dean Priest be visiting this year?” Aunt Elizabeth asked, unable to keep the disapproval from her tone even as she cuddled small Juliet to her. 

Emily nodded. “He’ll be around, probably late August for a week or so.”

“Hmm.” Aunt Elizabeth couldn’t understand why Emily had rekindled her friendship with Dean, and remained suspicious of him. 

After a few moments, Aunt Laura held out her arms impatiently for the baby. Aunt Elizabeth gave her up reluctantly. Emily resigned herself to having a rather meager share of her daughter until her aunts left. 

***

Returning to the Disappointed House always made Emily’s heart glad, and this time was no exception. Cousin Jimmy had been busy the last month or so, setting up a nursery in one of the bedrooms, and when Emily went in, she gasped with joy. It was perfect, with a beautiful, big, old wooden cradle in the middle of the room. 

“It belonged to your mother,” Cousin Jimmy told her when he visited later that day, small Juliet in his arms. “We thought you might like to use it for your own baby.”

“You’re so thoughtful always, Cousin Jimmy,” Emily said softly. 

Cousin Jimmy looked delighted. “I try, pussy. Elizabeth said that you called her Juliet Elizabeth?” Emily nodded, and Cousin Jimmy grinned. “She won’t show it, but she’s fairly tickled that you called the baby partly after her.”

“Well, she took me in, after all,” Emily said with a laugh. “And although we got off to a bit of a rocky start, I’m forever grateful to everything she did for me growing up. It seemed like a fitting thing to do. Besides, I rather like the name Elizabeth,” she added. “It’s a stately name.”

Teddy came through at that moment. He’d been working in his studio, painting a commission for a Toronto magazine. “Hello, Cousin Jimmy!”

The men shook hands. “I was just telling Emily how happy her aunt is that you decided to call the baby partly after her,” Cousin Jimmy said. “She’s talked of barely anything else for the last six weeks. Not that I blame her. I still can’t believe Ilse and Perry named their son after me.”

“I can,” Teddy said, smiling. “Perry has said often that if you hadn’t taken a chance with him, he’d never have gotten so far. Not to mention that he and Ilse, like Emily and I, remember all those evenings when we used to tell stories as you boiled the potatoes for the pigs.”

“And you remember that, do you?” Cousin Jimmy asked, delighted. “Well, well. Isn’t that funny.”

“We could be free there,” Emily said quietly, her slow smile spreading across her face. “There was no criticism, no worries. We could be who we wanted to be with you, Cousin Jimmy.”

“Well, now. If that isn’t the best compliment! It’s a shame you're not around for it these days.”

“We’ll make sure little Juliet is, when she’s a bit older,” Emily promised. “Every child should experience what it’s like to sit under the stars as the potatoes boil in the big pot, hearing stories and spending time with the most important people in your life.”

When Cousin Jimmy had left, and little Juliet had been put down in her cradle for a nap, Emily stood in the doorway, Teddy behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist. 

“Are you happy, my love?” Teddy asked softly.

Emily nodded, turning in the circle of his arms to kiss him. “Never more than right now,” she replied.

They went in to sit by the empty fireplace, the door closing behind them and shutting out the balmy night air. For all that they lived in Toronto most of the year, Emily knew that she would always be Emily of New Moon—the place she loved, her family home, and the place where she would always be welcome.


End file.
